System and Method For Automated Linkage of Enriched Transaction Data to a Record of Charge

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for automated linkage of enriched transaction data to a record of charge are provided. Electronic enriched transaction data, such as receipt information, provided by merchants, merchant aggregators, or third parties may be automatically associated with the corresponding transaction, and transmitted after the sale, or after authorization of the transaction, without user intervention. The enriched transaction data may be automatically associated with the record of charge at the acquirer or issuer end. Transaction account holders are able to view and/or download the electronic enriched transaction data with the record of charge, without the need for manually initiating emailing or attaching or the electronic enriched transaction data.

FIELD

The disclosure generally relates to financial transactions, and morespecifically, to systems and methods for automated linkage of enrichedtransaction data to a record of charge at the acquirer or issuer end.

BACKGROUND

Credit cards, charge cards, and other transaction instruments may becommonly accepted today as a form of payment to a merchant, under avariety of circumstances. The transaction instrument may be used tocomplete a purchase in-person (e.g., at a retail store, a restaurant, ahotel, etc.), or may also be used to complete a purchase by relayinginformation associated with the transaction instrument (e.g., accountnumber, account name, expiration data, billing address, etc.) to amerchant remotely, such as, for example, through the internet, bytelephone, or by mail order. Transaction account owners may desire toview electronic receipt data, and other such enriched transaction data,related to each purchase. For example, a transaction account owner maydesire to view electronic receipt data for individual purchases forconvenience (e.g., effective expense management, reminders, simplifiedbook keeping, etc.), to detect fraud, to dispute a purchase, and/or thelike.

Transaction account owners may view transaction account statements, suchas in an electronic and/or reoccurring statement, to review authorized(e.g., pending) charges and/or posted (e.g., settled) transactions.Typically, a transaction account owner receives a receipt, and othersuch enriched transaction data, as a written or electronicacknowledgment that a specified payment was received from multipleparties (e.g., from the merchant, a third party aggregator, atransaction account processing company, etc.) and manually sends thereceipt, or other such enriched transaction data, or manually matchesthe enriched transaction data with each corresponding posted transactionfrom the transaction account statement.

SUMMARY

Systems, methods, and articles of manufacture (collectively, the“system”) for automated linkage of enriched transaction data aredisclosed. The system may authorize a transaction between at least oneof a merchant or a merchant aggregator and a transaction account holder.The system may transmit an authorization code to at least one of themerchant or the merchant aggregator. The authorization code may comprisedata indicating that the transaction has been authorized and that arecord of charge has been generated. The system may receive enrichedtransaction data related to the transaction. The system may match theenriched transaction data to the record of charge. The system mayassociate the enriched transaction data to the record of charge.

In various embodiments, the enriched transaction data may be transmittedby at least one of the merchant, the merchant aggregator, or a thirdparty. In various embodiments, the enriched transaction data maycomprise at least one of electronic receipt information, a document, atag, a note, a reminder related to the transaction, warrantyinformation, a return policy, an itinerary, a deadline, a transactionlocation map, or a product manual. In various embodiments, the enrichedtransaction data may be matched to the record of charge based on atleast one of a merchant ID, a merchant name, a transaction date, atransaction amount, an authorization code, or an authorizationtimestamp.

In various embodiments, the system may further return the enrichedtransaction data to the transaction account holder, in response to arequest for the enriched transaction data. In various embodiments, thesystem may return the enriched transaction data to the transactionaccount holder in response to a request for the enriched transactiondata associated with the record of charge, wherein the enrichedtransaction data comprises an electronic receipt information. In variousembodiments, the system may generate an enriched transaction datareminder based on the enriched transaction data. In various embodiments,the system may transmit the enriched transaction data reminder to thetransaction account holder.

The foregoing features and elements may be combined in variouscombinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated hereinotherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation of thedisclosed embodiments will become more apparent in light of thefollowing description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter of the present disclosure is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. Amore complete understanding of the present disclosure, however, may beobtained by referring to the detailed description and claims whenconsidered in connection with the drawing figures, wherein like numeralsdenote like elements.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating various system components of asystem for automated linkage of enriched transaction data, in accordancewith various embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a process flow for authorizing transactions, inaccordance with various embodiments; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a process flow for automated linkage of enrichedtransaction data to a record of charge, in accordance with variousembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawings, which show various embodiments by way ofillustration. While these various embodiments are described insufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice thedisclosure, it should be understood that other embodiments may berealized and that logical and mechanical changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedetailed description herein is presented for purposes of illustrationonly and not of limitation. For example, the steps recited in any of themethod or process descriptions may be executed in any order and are notlimited to the order presented. Moreover, any of the functions or stepsmay be outsourced to or performed by one or more third parties.Furthermore, any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, andany reference to more than one component may include a singularembodiment.

Phrases and terms similar to “financial institution” or “transactionaccount issuer” may include any entity that offers transaction accountservices. Although often referred to as a “financial institution,” thefinancial institution may represent any type of bank, lender or othertype of account issuing institution, such as credit card companies, cardsponsoring companies, or third party issuers under contract withfinancial institutions. It is further noted that other participants maybe involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution.

The terms “payment vehicle,” “financial transaction instrument,”“transaction instrument” and/or the plural form of these terms may beused interchangeably throughout to refer to a financial instrument. Asused herein, an account code may or may not be associated with aphysical financial instrument.

Phrases and terms similar to a “buyer”, “participant”, “consumer”, and“user” may include any entity that receives goods or services inexchange for consideration (e.g. financial payment). For example, abuyer may purchase, lease, rent, barter or otherwise obtain goods from asupplier and pay the supplier using a transaction account.

Phrases similar to a “processor” (e.g., payment processor) or“transaction account issuer” may include a company (e.g., a third party)appointed (e.g., by a merchant) to handle transactions. A paymentprocessor may include an issuer, acquirer, authorizer and/or any othersystem or entity involved in the transaction process. Payment processorsmay be broken down into two types: front-end and back-end. Front-endpayment processors have connections to various transaction accounts andsupply authorization and settlement services to the merchant banks'merchants. Back-end payment processors accept settlements from front-endpayment processors and, via The Federal Reserve Bank, move money from anissuing bank to the merchant bank. In an operation that will usuallytake a few seconds, the payment processor will both check the detailsreceived by forwarding the details to the respective account's issuingbank or card association for verification, and may carry out a series ofanti-fraud measures against the transaction. Additional parameters,including the account's country of issue and its previous paymenthistory, may be used to gauge the probability of the transaction beingapproved. In response to the payment processor receiving confirmationthat the transaction account details have been verified, the informationmay be relayed back to the merchant, who will then complete the paymenttransaction. In response to the verification being denied, the paymentprocessor relays the information to the merchant, who may then declinethe transaction.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

Phrases and terms similar to “transaction account” may include anyaccount that may be used to facilitate a financial transaction. Forexample, a transaction account as used herein may refer to an accountassociated with an open account or a closed account system (as describedherein). The transaction account may exist in a physical or non-physicalembodiment. For example, a transaction account may be distributed innon-physical embodiments such as an account number, frequent-flyeraccount, telephone calling account, and/or the like. Furthermore, aphysical embodiment of a transaction account may be distributed as afinancial instrument.

A record of charge (or “ROC”) may comprise any transaction ortransaction data. The ROC may be a unique identifier associated with atransaction. A transaction may, in various embodiments, be performed bya one or more members using a transaction account, such as a transactionaccount associated with a gift card, a debit card, a credit card, andthe like. A ROC may, in addition, contain details such as location,merchant name or identifier, transaction amount, transaction date,account number, account security pin or code, account expiration date,and the like for the transaction.

In various embodiments, transaction account authorizations may beperformed at the transaction account issuer's credit authorizationsystem (“CAS”) in response to a swipe and/or submission of transactioninstrument data by the transaction account holder at a Point of Sale(“PoS”) system and/or merchant. The CAS may issue an approval code as aproof of authorization. After the transaction authorization is complete,typically the merchant and/or PoS may provide a physical receipt and/orthe like, containing enriched transaction data. Conventionally, atransaction account owner has to wait for the transaction to be postedby the merchant for the record of charge (ROC) to be available at atransaction account servicing website or mobile application (e.g.,available electronically on a transaction account statement). However,the enriched transaction data is not linked to the corresponding recordof charge, and is typically only manually linked, the efficiency ofwhich may be dependent on optical character recognition (OCR),information quality, manual intervention, and/or the like. Foradditional information about enriched data and ROCs, see, for example,U.S. application Ser. No. 14/621,152, entitled “Automated Transfer ofEnriched Transaction Account Data to a Submitted Record of Charge” andfiled on Feb. 12, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety for all purposes.

In various embodiments, the systems and methods provided herein mayallow transaction account holders to access electronic receiptsassociated with a transaction authorization almost immediately (or atany time) after the transaction is complete. The systems and methodsprovided herein may enable automated linkage of electronic receipts to atransaction authorization done via any acquirer or processor. In thisregard, more information is available at the transaction level, whichmay help to provide increased financial clarity to the transactionaccount holder. This may also result in easier accounting, book keeping,expense reporting, reduced disputes and/or chargebacks, merchantreturns, and/or the like. Warranty documents, return policies, andtracking of services may also be accommodated by the system and methodsdescribed herein.

In various embodiments, enhanced satisfaction may be experienced bytransaction account holders. For example, digital connection access maybe provided to transaction account holders almost immediately (or at anytime) after a transaction, which can be used for providing continuoussupport and services. Merchants may be able to provide additional offersto customers by leveraging the digital connection described herein. Thesystems and methods described herein may also provide for a reduction indisputes and a reduction in fraud, as a digital copy of documents,receipts, and/or other enriched transaction data may be available inreal time or soon after the time of the transaction. Receipt printingand/or point of sale maintenance costs may also be further reduced formerchants.

In various embodiments, a system 100 for automated linkage of enrichedtransaction data is disclosed. In various embodiments, system 100 may becomputer based, and may comprise a processor, a tangible non-transitorycomputer-readable memory, and/or a network interface, along with othersuitable system software and hardware components. Instructions stored onthe tangible non-transitory memory may allow system 100 to performvarious functions, as described herein. System 100 may also contemplateuses in association with web services, utility computing, pervasive andindividualized computing, security and identity solutions, autonomiccomputing, cloud computing, commodity computing, mobility and wirelesssolutions, open source, biometrics, grid computing and/or meshcomputing.

In various embodiments, system 100 may comprise an issuer system 110.Issuer system 110 may be configured as a central hub to access varioussystems, engines, and components of system 100. In that regard, issuersystem 110 may comprise a network, computer-based system, and/orsoftware component configured to provide an access point to varioussystems, engines, and components. Issuer system 110 may be in operativeand/or electronic communication with various system 100 networks (e.g.,network 130-1 and network 130-2), a settlement engine 143, anauthorization engine 145, and/or an enriched data linkage engine 147. Invarious embodiments, issuer system 110 may also comprise a transactionaccount issuer's Credit Authorization System (“CAS”) capable ofauthorizing transaction account purchase requests, as discussed furtherherein.

In various embodiments, system 100 may comprise a merchant system 120.Merchant system 120 may incorporate hardware and/or software components.Merchant system 120 may be configured to enable a merchant to receive apayment from a user, and submit a request to authorize the payment.Merchant system 120 may comprise a POS terminal 125 configured as amechanism to conduct a transaction. In this regard, POS terminal 125 mayenable a user to initiate a transaction with a merchant. For example,POS terminal 125 may comprise a cashier station, a credit or debit cardreader, and/or the like. POS terminal 125 may also comprise a near-fieldcommunication (NFC) terminal. In this regard, an NFC terminal may allowfor the transfer of information to another NFC enabling device, such as,a mobile device. In various embodiments, POS terminal 125 may allow auser to pay a merchant using a virtual token stored on an NFC enabledmobile device.

In various embodiments, merchant system 120 and issuer system 110 may beinterconnected via network 130-1 (e.g., a payment network). Network130-1, which may be part of certain transactions, represents existingproprietary networks that presently accommodate transactions for creditcards, debit cards, and/or other types of transactional instruments.Network 130-1 may be a closed network that is secure from eavesdroppers.In various embodiments, network 130-1 may comprise an exemplarytransaction network such as American Express®, VisaNet®, Veriphone®,Discover Card®, PayPal®, ApplePay®, GooglePay®, private networks (e.g.,department store networks), and/or any other payment networks.

As used herein, the term “network” may include any cloud, cloudcomputing system or electronic communications system or method whichincorporates hardware and/or software components. Communication amongthe parties may be accomplished through any suitable communicationchannels, such as, for example, a telephone network, an extranet, anintranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point of sale device,personal digital assistant (e.g., IPHONE®, BLACKBERRY®), cellular phone,kiosk, etc.), online communications, satellite communications, off-linecommunications, wireless communications, transponder communications,local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual privatenetwork (VPN), networked or linked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or anysuitable communication or data input modality. Moreover, although thesystem is frequently described herein as being implemented with TCP/IPcommunications protocols, the system may also be implemented using IPX,APPLE®talk, IP-6, NetBIOS®, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec,SSH), or any number of existing or future protocols. If the network isin the nature of a public network, such as the Internet, it may beadvantageous to presume the network to be insecure and open toeavesdroppers. Specific information related to the protocols, standards,and application software utilized in connection with the Internet isgenerally known to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not bedetailed herein.

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, Dish Networks®, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods. It isnoted that the network may be implemented as other types of networks,such as an interactive television (ITV) network. Moreover, the systemcontemplates the use, sale or distribution of any goods, services orinformation over any network having similar functionality describedherein.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.For more information regarding cloud computing, see the NIST's (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology) definition of cloud computing.

In response to a user initiating a transaction with a merchant system120 through POS terminal 125, merchant system 120 may send a transactionauthorization request to authorization engine 145, via issuer system110. The transaction authorization request may comprise transactionidentification information, which may be standardized codes or numbersindicating the characteristics of the transaction (e.g., a merchantcategory code, a service establishment number, geographic location code,product code, POS terminal number, and/or the like), a transactionrequest amount, and/or a user profile identifier such as a transactionaccount number, a user account, a user account number, a card securitycode (CSC) or a card verification value (CVV), and/or any otheridentifying information.

In various embodiments, authorization engine 145 may be configured toauthorize the transaction authorization request received from merchantsystem 120. In that respect, authorization engine 145 may be inelectronic and/or operative communication with a subscriber database153. Subscriber database 153 may store and maintain data regardingtransaction accounts, such as, for example, a transaction accountnumber, user account access data (e.g., username, password, and/or thelike), transaction account identifying information (e.g., owner address,city, state, zip code, etc.), a card security code (CSC) or a cardverification value (CVV), transaction account balance, and/or other suchsimilar data. Subscriber database 153 may store the data using anysuitable technique described herein or known in the art. Authorizationengine 145 may validate the risk of the transaction authorizationrequest, such as, for example, by comparing the transactionauthorization request to the stored transaction account data insubscriber database 153 (e.g., compare the transaction request amount tothe transaction account balance, the CSV/CVV codes, owner identifyinginformation, etc.). In response to approving the transactionauthorization request, authorization engine 145 may transmit anauthorization code, via issuer system 110, to merchant system 120.Merchant system 120 may store the authorization code as proof of thetransaction and may issue a receipt to the transaction account owner asa written or electronic acknowledgment that a transaction payment wasreceived.

In various embodiments, in response to authorizing the transactionauthorization request, authorization engine 145 may communicate with anaccounts receivable database 155 to store and maintain data on theauthorized transactions. In that regard, accounts receivable database155 may store the data as a pending transaction corresponding to thetransaction account. Accounts receivable database 155 may store the datausing any suitable technique described herein or known in the art.According to various embodiments, a pending transaction is anauthorization that has taken place (e.g., the transaction is approved,and/or the goods have been exchanged for value), where the merchant(and/or a merchant aggregator) may decide to post the transaction forreimbursement (e.g., a posted transaction). For instance, there are manycases where the transaction may not be posted by the merchant. Forexample, hotel room reservations may often record a transaction accountfor the purpose of guaranty of available payment. Typically, at the endof the day (or at any other suitable time interval), a merchant, for thepurpose of being reimbursed, will submit pending charges to an issuingbank and/or transaction account processor to convert the pending chargeto a posted transaction (e.g., via settlement engine 143, as discussedfurther below). In this way, the pending change is converted (settled)to a posted transaction.

In various embodiments, authorization engine 145 may also be configuredto transmit a transaction authorization alert in response to authorizingthe transaction authorization request. Authorization engine 145 maytransmit the transaction authorization alert, via issuer system 110, toa user terminal 160. In that respect, authorization engine 145 maytransmit the transaction authorization alert via email, SMS, MMS,smartphone notification, Facebook® Messenger, and/or the like. Thetransaction authorization alert may comprise data corresponding to theauthorized transaction, such as, for example, the transaction requestamount, merchant identifying information, and/or the like. In thatrespect, a transaction account owner may view the transactionauthorization alert via user terminal 160.

In various embodiments, system 100 may comprise a settlement engine 143.In various embodiments, settlement engine 143 may be configured toprocess transaction information, convert pending charges into postedtransactions, and settle posted transactions against a transactionaccount. Settlement engine 143 may process payment information bycommunicating with accounts receivable database 155 to recall data onauthorized transactions for a transaction account. Settlement engine 143may also, in response to a successful payment transaction, send atransaction confirmation to merchant system 120, via issuer system 110,notifying a merchant of a successful payment transaction.

In various embodiments, system 100 may also comprise an enriched datalinkage engine 147. Enriched data linkage engine 147 may be configuredto receive enriched transaction data. In various embodiments, theenriched transaction data may comprise any suitable data related to acorresponding authorized and/or pending transaction. For example, theenriched transaction data may comprise electronic receipt information,additional detailed information, documents, tags, notes, remindersrelated to the transaction, warranty information, return policy,itineraries, reminders, deadlines, map with location of transaction,product manuals, and/or the like. Electronic receipt information maycomprise data corresponding to the approved transaction, such as, forexample, a merchant ID, a merchant name, a transaction date, atransaction amount, an authorization code, or an authorizationtimestamp. The enriched transaction data may be transmitted in any form,such as, for example, a URL, an image (e.g., .JPG, .BMP, .PNG, .TIF,.GIF, etc.), metadata, and/or the like.

In various embodiments, enriched data linkage engine 147 may receive theenriched transaction data from any suitable source, such as, forexample, from merchant system 120 and/or third party system 127, viaissuer system 110. In that respect, enriched data linkage engine 147 mayreceive the enriched transaction data from a merchant, a merchant and/orpayment aggregator (e.g., a provider that allows merchants to acceptpayments, such as Square®, PayPal®, and/or the like), a third party,and/or any other suitable party. Each party may interface with enricheddata linkage engine 147 using any suitable technique. For example, aparty may transmit the enriched transaction data through a submissionsprocess in a transaction account processing system (e.g., via issuersystem 110), through a receipt data capture interface, and/or the like.In various embodiments, enriched data linkage engine 147 may store theenriched transaction data in an enriched data database 157. Enricheddata database 157 may store the enriched transaction data using anysuitable technique.

For example, and in various embodiments, merchant system 120 may beconfigured to automatically transmit the enriched transaction data inresponse to receiving the authorization code from authorization engine145.

In various embodiments, merchant system 120 may be configured toautomatically transmit all received enriched transaction data. In thatrespect, merchant system 120 may transmit the enriched transaction dataimmediately, or at any other suitable time interval (e.g., merchant maysubmit batches of enriched transaction data), after generating atransaction receipt for a customer. In various embodiments, merchantsystem 120 may be configured to transmit all enriched transaction data,such as transaction receipts. Merchant system 120 may automaticallytransmit the enriched transaction data in response to receiving theauthorization code (e.g., from authorization engine 145) and approvingthe transaction (e.g., after the charge is pending). Merchant system 120may also automatically transmit the enriched transaction data inresponse to posting the charge, and/or at any other suitable time.

In various embodiments, enriched data linkage engine 147 may alsoreceive the enriched transaction data from a third party system 127, vianetwork 130-1 and issuer system 110. Third party system 127 may compriseany suitable third party with access to enriched transaction data. Forexample, third party system 127 may comprise a receipt printer vendorfor merchant system 120, such as, for example, Epson®, Star Micronics®,NCR®, Micros®, AGPtek®, and/or any other suitable receipt printervendor. Third party system 127 may also comprise a data aggregator,and/or any other suitable third party. In various embodiments, thirdparty system 127 may have a pre-connection with merchant system 120, vianetwork 130-1, for example, such that third party system 127 mayrecognize the creation and/or receipt of enriched transaction data(e.g., merchant system 120 may communicate creation of enrichedtransaction data to third party system 127). In that respect, inresponse to a merchant generating (e.g., physically or electronically) atransaction receipt, third party system 127 may be configured toautomatically capture data relating to the transaction receipt, andtransmit the data to enriched data linkage engine 147, via network 130-1and issuer system 110. In various embodiments, third party system 127may be configured to transmit all enriched transaction data.

In various embodiments, enriched data linkage engine 147 may also beconfigured to match the enriched transaction data to a record of charge.In that respect, enriched data linkage engine 147 may search throughaccounts receivable database 155 for recent transactions to retrieve arecord of charge matching the enriched transaction data. Enriched datalinkage engine 147 may match the enriched transaction data based on anysuitable factor. For example, enriched data linkage engine 147 may matchthe enriched transaction data based on transaction attributes, such asmerchant ID, merchant name, transaction date, transaction amount,authorization code, authorization timestamp, and/or through any othersuitable factor. In various embodiments, enriched data linkage engine147 may search for an exact match, or may search for a partial match.For example, enriched data linkage engine 147 may search for an exactmatch of merchant ID, merchant name, authorization code, and/or similarfactors, but may allow for some tolerance for transaction date (e.g.,may be within one or two days), transaction amount, authorizationtimestamp, and/or the like. In various embodiments, enriched datalinkage engine 147 may also match the enriched transaction data based ona unique transaction identifier and/or the like. In response to a recordof charge being matched with the enriched transaction data, enricheddata linkage engine 147 may transmit and/or incorporate the enrichedtransaction data into the corresponding record of charge (e.g., into therecord of charge stored in accounts receivable database 155). Inresponse to not locating an associated record of charge, enriched datalinkage engine 147 may continue to search accounts receivable database155 for a match. For example, enriched data linkage engine 147 maysearch through pending charges to locate a match for the enrichedtransaction data.

In various embodiments, enriched data linkage engine 147 may also beconfigured to transmit an enriched transaction data reminder. In thatrespect, enriched data linkage engine 147 may transmit the enrichedtransaction data reminder, via issuer system 110 and network 130-2, touser terminal 160. The enriched transaction data reminder may comprise anotification and/or the like, related to the enriched transaction data.For example, where the enriched transaction data comprises warrantyinformation or return policy (e.g., a three year warranty or a thirtyday return policy), the enriched transaction data reminder may betransmitted to remind a transaction account owner that the warranty orreturn policy is set to expire. In that regard, enriched data linkageengine 147 may transmit the enriched transaction data reminder at apreset interval prior to the expiration of the warranty or return policy(e.g., one month, three months, six months, etc.). Enriched data linkageengine 147 may transmit the enriched transaction data reminder viaemail, SMS, MMS, smartphone notification, Facebook® Messenger, and/orthe like. The user may view the enriched transaction data reminder viauser terminal 160. In various embodiments, the user may interface withissuer system 110, via user terminal 160, to request to receive enrichedtransaction data reminders.

In various embodiments, system 100 may comprise a user terminal 160.User terminal 160 may be in operative and/or electronic communicationwith issuer system 110, and may be configured to interface with issuersystem 110. In that respect, user terminal 160 may comprise any suitablehardware and/or software components capable of sending and receivingdata. For example, user terminal 160 may comprise a personal computer,personal digital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk, and/or the like. Userterminal 160 may also comprise a near-field communication (NFC) enableddevice, such as a smartphone (e.g., IPHONE®, BLACKBERRY®, and/or thelike), a smart-ring, and/or the like.

In various embodiments, user terminal 160 may be configured to allow auser access to transaction account information in issuer system 110. Inthat respect, issuer system 110 may comprise a servicing interface 115.Servicing interface 115 may comprise a website, application, and/or thelike capable of allowing a user, via user terminal 160, access to issuersystem 110. In that respect, servicing interface 115 may require asecure login (e.g., a username and password) in order to grant a useraccess to issuer system 110. For example, a transaction account ownermay access issuer system 110, via servicing interface 115, by enteringtheir secure login information to electronically view theircorresponding transaction account, including transaction reports,records of charge, and/or the like. A transaction account owner may thenselect individual records of charge on an electronic transaction report.The transaction account owner may select each record of charge to viewaddition information, including the enriched transaction datacorresponding to that record of charge.

For example, and in various embodiments, a transaction account owner mayselect an individual record of charge and select an option to viewreceipt data (e.g., the enriched transaction data) related to thatrecord of charge. The receipt data may populate (e.g., as populatedfields, as a virtual representation of the physical receipt, and/or thelike), allowing the transaction account owner to view the enrichedtransaction data related to the record of charge. In that respect, thetransaction account owner may view, download, and/or print the enrichedtransaction data, such as the receipt data, linked to each correspondingrecord of charge. For example, the transaction account owner may printthe receipt data as a proof of the transaction, allowing the transactionaccount owner to submit the printed receipt data to a merchant for arefund, exchange, store credit, warranty purposes, and/or the like. Invarious embodiments, issuer system 110, via servicing interface 115, mayalso enable the transaction account owner to print the enrichedtransaction data in a secured and/or verified manner. In that respect,the enriched transaction data may print to comprise a verified marking,such as a watermark and/or the like, to aid against fraud and/or similarsuch acts.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 the process flows and screenshotsdepicted are merely embodiments and are not intended to limit the scopeof the disclosure. For example, the steps recited in any of the methodor process descriptions may be executed in any order and are not limitedto the order presented. It will be appreciated that the followingdescription makes appropriate references not only to the steps and userinterface elements depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3, but also to the varioussystem components as described above with reference to FIG. 1.

In various embodiments, and with reference to FIG. 2, a method 200 forauthorizing transactions is disclosed. In various embodiments, method200 may comprise receiving a transaction authorization request (Step202). Issuer system 110 may receive the transaction authorizationrequest in response to a transaction account owner initiating atransaction with merchant system 120 (e.g., with a merchant and/or amerchant aggregator). The transaction authorization request may comprisetransaction identification information, which may be standardized codesor numbers indicating the characteristics of the transaction (e.g., amerchant category code, a service establishment number, geographiclocation code, product code, POS terminal number, and/or the like), atransaction request amount, and/or a user profile identifier such as atransaction account number, a user account, a user account number, acard security code (CSC) or a card verification value (CVV), and/or anyother identifying information.

In various embodiments, method 200 may comprise approving thetransaction authorization request (Step 204). Issuer system 110, viaauthorization engine 145, may approve and authorize the transactionauthorization request received from merchant system 120. Issuer system110, via authorization engine 145, may validate the risk of thetransaction authorization request, such as, for example, by comparingthe transaction authorization request to the stored transaction accountdata in subscriber database 153. In response to validating the risk ofthe transaction authorization request, issuer system 110 may approve thetransaction authorization request. In various embodiments, method 200may comprise generating an authorization code (Step 206). In response toapproving the transaction authorization request, issuer system 110, viaauthorization engine 145 may generate an authorization code as proof ofthe transaction. In response to approving the transaction authorizationrequest, issuer system 110 may also generate a pending charge. Invarious embodiments, method 200 may comprise transmitting theauthorization code (Step 208). Issuer system 110 may transmit theauthorization code to merchant system 120 (e.g., to the merchant and/orthe merchant aggregator).

In various embodiments, method 200 may also comprise transmitting anauthorization alert (Step 210). Issuer system 110 may transmit theauthorization alert to user terminal 160 via email, SMS, MMS, smartphonenotification, Facebook® Messenger, and/or the like. The transactionauthorization alert may comprise data corresponding to the authorizedtransaction, such as, for example, the transaction request amount,merchant identifying information, and/or the like.

In various embodiments, method 200 may comprise receiving a transactionposting charge (Step 212). Issuer system 110 may receive the transactionposting charge from merchant system 120. In various embodiments, method200 may comprise settling the transaction posting charge against thetransaction account (Step 214). Issuer system 110 may reconcile thetransaction posting charge against the pending charge, and may settlethe transaction against the transaction account. Settlement engine 143may also, in response to a successful payment transaction, send atransaction confirmation to merchant system 120 to notify a merchant ofa successful payment transaction.

In various embodiments, and with reference to FIG. 3, a method 300 forautomated linkage of enriched transaction data to a record of charge isdisclosed. In various embodiments, method 300 may comprise receiving anenriched transaction data (Step 310). Issuer system 110, via enricheddata linkage engine 147, may be configured to receive the enrichedtransaction data. Issuer system 110 may receive the enriched transactiondata from merchant system 120 and/or third party system 127. In variousembodiments the enriched transaction data may comprise any suitable datarelated to a corresponding authorized and/or pending transaction. Forexample, the enriched transaction data may comprise electronic receiptinformation, additional detailed information, documents, tags, notes,reminders related to the transaction, warranty information, returnpolicy, itineraries, deadlines, a map with the location of thetransaction (e.g., a transaction location map providing details (such asaddress, geocode, etc.) regarding where the transaction took place),product manuals, and/or the like.

In various embodiments, method 300 may comprise matching the enrichedtransaction data to a record of charge (Step 320). Issuer system 110,via enriched data linkage engine 147, may be configured to match theenriched transaction data to a record of charge. Issuer system 110 maymatch the enriched transaction data based on transaction attributes,such as merchant ID, merchant name, transaction date, transactionamount, authorization code, authorization timestamp, and/or through anyother suitable factor. In various embodiments, issuer system 110 maylocate an exact match or a partial match. Issuer system 110 may searchfor recent transactions in accounts receivable database 155 to locate arecord of charge matching the enriched transaction data. In variousembodiments, method 300 may comprise linking the enriched transactiondata to the matched record of charge (Step 330). In response to a recordof charge being matched with the enriched transaction data, issuersystem 110 may transmit the enriched transaction data into thecorresponding record of charge (e.g., into the record of charge storedin accounts receivable database 155) to link the enriched transactiondata to the corresponding record of charge. In that respect, atransaction account owner may request to view, download, print, and/orthe like the enriched transaction data linked to the correspondingrecord of charge, such as, for example, through viewing the record ofcharge on an online servicing system (as described in more detailherein). Issuer system 110 may return the enriched transaction data tothe transaction account owner, via user terminal 160, in response to thetransaction account owner requesting the enriched transaction data(e.g., accessing the record of charge and viewing, downloading,printing, and/or the like the enriched transaction data).

In various embodiments, method 300 may also comprise transmitting anenriched transaction data reminder (Step 340). Issuer system 110, viaenriched data linkage engine 147, may transmit the enriched transactiondata reminder to user terminal 160. The enriched transaction datareminder may comprise a notification, and/or the like, related to theenriched transaction data. Issuer system 110 may transmit the enrichedtransaction data reminder via email, SMS, MMS, smartphone notification,Facebook® Messenger, and/or the like, enabling a user to view theenriched transaction data reminder via user terminal 160.

The disclosure and claims do not describe only a particular outcome oflinking an enriched transaction data to a record of charge, but thedisclosure and claims include specific rules for implementing theoutcome of linking an enriched transaction data to a record of chargeand that render information into a specific format that is then used andapplied to create the desired results of linking an enriched transactiondata to a record of charge, as set forth in McRO, Inc. v. Bandai NamcoGames America Inc. (Fed. Cir. case number 15-1080, Sep. 13, 2016). Inother words, the outcome of linking an enriched transaction data to arecord of charge can be performed by many different types of rules andcombinations of rules, and this disclosure includes various embodimentswith specific rules. While the absence of complete preemption may notguarantee that a claim is eligible, the disclosure does not sufficientlypreempt the field of linking an enriched transaction data to a record ofcharge at all. The disclosure acts to narrow, confine, and otherwise tiedown the disclosure so as not to cover the general abstract idea of justlinking an enriched transaction data to a record of charge.Significantly, other systems and methods exist for linking an enrichedtransaction data to a record of charge, so it would be inappropriate toassert that the claimed invention preempts the field or monopolizes thebasic tools of linking an enriched transaction data to a record ofcharge. In other words, the disclosure will not prevent others fromlinking an enriched transaction data to a record of charge, becauseother systems are already performing the functionality in different waysthan the claimed invention. Moreover, the claimed invention includes aninventive concept that may be found in the non-conventional andnon-generic arrangement of known, conventional pieces, in conformancewith Bascom v. AT&T Mobility, 2015-1763 (Fed. Cir. 2016). The disclosureand claims go way beyond any conventionality of any one of the systemsin that the interaction and synergy of the systems leads to additionalfunctionality that is not provided by any one of the systems operatingindependently. The disclosure and claims may also include theinteraction between multiple different systems, so the disclosure cannotbe considered an implementation of a generic computer, or just “applyit” to an abstract process. The disclosure and claims may also bedirected to improvements to software with a specific implementation of asolution to a problem in the software arts.

In various embodiments, the systems and methods may include alerting asubscriber when their computer is offline. With brief reference to FIG.1, system 100 may include generating customized information, via issuersystem 110, and alerting a remote subscriber that the information can beaccessed from their computer. The alerts are generated by filteringreceived information, building information alerts and formatting thealerts into data blocks based upon subscriber preference information.The data blocks are transmitted to the subscriber's wireless device(e.g., user terminal 160), which, when connected to the computer, causesthe computer to auto-launch an application to display the informationalert and provide access to more detailed information about theinformation alert. More particularly, the method may comprise providinga viewer application to a subscriber for installation on the remotesubscriber computer; receiving information at a transmission server sentfrom a data source over the Internet, the transmission server comprisinga microprocessor and a memory that stores the remote subscriber'spreferences for information format, destination address, specifiedinformation, and transmission schedule, wherein the microprocessorfilters the received information by comparing the received informationto the specified information; generates an information alert from thefiltered information that contains a name, a price and a universalresource locator (URL), which specifies the location of the data source;formats the information alert into data blocks according to saidinformation format; and transmits the formatted information alert over awireless communication channel to a wireless device associated with asubscriber based upon the destination address and transmission schedule,wherein the alert activates the application to cause the informationalert to display on the remote subscriber computer and to enableconnection via the URL to the data source over the Internet when thewireless device is locally connected to the remote subscriber computerand the remote subscriber computer comes online.

In various embodiments, the system and method may include a graphicaluser interface (e.g., via user terminal 160) for dynamicallyrelocating/rescaling obscured textual information of an underlyingwindow to become automatically viewable to the user. By permittingtextual information to be dynamically relocated based on an overlapcondition, the computer's ability to display information is improved.More particularly, the method for dynamically relocating textualinformation within an underlying window displayed in a graphical userinterface may comprise displaying a first window containing textualinformation in a first format within a graphical user interface on acomputer screen; displaying a second window within the graphical userinterface; constantly monitoring the boundaries of the first window andthe second window to detect an overlap condition where the second windowoverlaps the first window such that the textual information in the firstwindow is obscured from a user's view; determining the textualinformation would not be completely viewable if relocated to anunobstructed portion of the first window; calculating a first measure ofthe area of the first window and a second measure of the area of theunobstructed portion of the first window; calculating a scaling factorwhich is proportional to the difference between the first measure andthe second measure; scaling the textual information based upon thescaling factor; automatically relocating the scaled textual information,by a processor, to the unobscured portion of the first window in asecond format during an overlap condition so that the entire scaledtextual information is viewable on the computer screen by the user; andautomatically returning the relocated scaled textual information, by theprocessor, to the first format within the first window when the overlapcondition no longer exists.

In various embodiments, the system may also include isolating andremoving malicious code from electronic messages (e.g., email) toprevent a computer (e.g., issuer system 110) from being compromised, forexample by being infected with a computer virus. The system may scan,via issuer system 110 for example, electronic communications formalicious computer code and clean the electronic communication before itmay initiate malicious acts. The system operates by physically isolatinga received electronic communication in a “quarantine” sector of thecomputer memory. A quarantine sector is a memory sector created by thecomputer's operating system such that files stored in that sector arenot permitted to act on files outside that sector. When a communicationcontaining malicious code is stored in the quarantine sector, the datacontained within the communication is compared to maliciouscode-indicative patterns stored within a signature database. Thepresence of a particular malicious code-indicative pattern indicates thenature of the malicious code. The signature database further includescode markers that represent the beginning and end points of themalicious code. The malicious code is then extracted from maliciouscode-containing communication. An extraction routine is run by a fileparsing component of the processing unit. The file parsing routineperforms the following operations: scan the communication for theidentified beginning malicious code marker; flag each scanned bytebetween the beginning marker and the successive end malicious codemarker; continue scanning until no further beginning malicious codemarker is found; and create a new data file by sequentially copying allnon-flagged data bytes into the new file, which thus forms a sanitizedcommunication file. The new, sanitized communication is transferred to anon-quarantine sector of the computer memory. Subsequently, all data onthe quarantine sector is erased. More particularly, the system includesa method for protecting a computer from an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code by receiving an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code in a computer with a memory having a bootsector, a quarantine sector and a non-quarantine sector; storing thecommunication in the quarantine sector of the memory of the computer,wherein the quarantine sector is isolated from the boot and thenon-quarantine sector in the computer memory, where code in thequarantine sector is prevented from performing write actions on othermemory sectors; extracting, via file parsing, the malicious code fromthe electronic communication to create a sanitized electroniccommunication, wherein the extracting comprises scanning thecommunication for an identified beginning malicious code marker,flagging each scanned byte between the beginning marker and a successiveend malicious code marker, continuing scanning until no furtherbeginning malicious code marker is found, and creating a new data fileby sequentially copying all non-flagged data bytes into a new file thatforms a sanitized communication file; transferring the sanitizedelectronic communication to the non-quarantine sector of the memory; anddeleting all data remaining in the quarantine sector.

In various embodiments, system 100 may also address the problem ofretaining control over customers during affiliate purchase transactions,using a system for co-marketing the “look and feel” of the host web pagewith the product-related content information of the advertisingmerchant's web page. System 100 can be operated by a third-partyoutsource provider, who acts as a broker between multiple hosts andmerchants. Prior to implementation, a host places links to a merchant'swebpage on the host's web page. The links are associated withproduct-related content on the merchant's web page. Additionally, theoutsource provider system stores the “look and feel” information fromeach host's web pages in a computer data store, which is coupled to acomputer server. The “look and feel” information includes visuallyperceptible elements such as logos, colors, page layout, navigationsystem, frames, mouse-over effects or other elements that are consistentthrough some or all of each host's respective web pages. A customer whoclicks on an advertising link, via user terminal 160, for example, isnot transported from the host web page to the merchant's web page, butinstead is re-directed to a composite web page that combines productinformation associated with the selected item and visually perceptibleelements of the host web page. The outsource provider's server respondsby first identifying the host web page where the link has been selectedand retrieving the corresponding stored “look and feel” information. Theserver constructs a composite web page using the retrieved “look andfeel” information of the host web page, with the product-related contentembedded within it, so that the composite web page is visually perceivedby the customer as associated with the host web page. The server thentransmits and presents this composite web page to the customer so thatshe effectively remains on the host web page to purchase the itemwithout being redirected to the third party merchant affiliate. Becausesuch composite pages are visually perceived by the customer asassociated with the host web page, they give the customer the impressionthat she is viewing pages served by the host. Further, the customer isable to purchase the item without being redirected to the third partymerchant affiliate, thus allowing the host to retain control over thecustomer. This system enables the host to receive the same advertisingrevenue streams as before but without the loss of visitor traffic andpotential customers. More particularly, the system may be useful in anoutsource provider serving web pages offering commercial opportunities.The computer store containing data, for each of a plurality of first webpages, defining a plurality of visually perceptible elements, whichvisually perceptible elements correspond to the plurality of first webpages; wherein each of the first web pages belongs to one of a pluralityof web page owners; wherein each of the first web pages displays atleast one active link associated with a commerce object associated witha buying opportunity of a selected one of a plurality of merchants; andwherein the selected merchant, the outsource provider, and the owner ofthe first web page displaying the associated link are each third partieswith respect to one other; a computer server at the outsource provider,which computer server is coupled to the computer store and programmedto: receive from the web browser of a computer user a signal indicatingactivation of one of the links displayed by one of the first web pages;automatically identify as the source page the one of the first web pageson which the link has been activated; in response to identification ofthe source page, automatically retrieve the stored data corresponding tothe source page; and using the data retrieved, automatically generateand transmit to the web browser a second web page that displays:information associated with the commerce object associated with the linkthat has been activated, and the plurality of visually perceptibleelements visually corresponding to the source page.

As used herein, “satisfy”, “meet”, “match”, “associated with” or similarphrases may include an identical match, a partial match, meeting certaincriteria, matching a subset of data, a correlation, satisfying certaincriteria, a correspondence, an association, an algorithmic relationshipand/or the like. Similarly, as used herein, “authenticate” or similarterms may include an exact authentication, a partial authentication,authenticating a subset of data, a correspondence, satisfying certaincriteria, an association, an algorithmic relationship and/or the like.

Terms and phrases similar to “associate” and/or “associating” mayinclude tagging, flagging, correlating, using a look-up table or anyother method or system for indicating or creating a relationship betweenelements such as, for example, (i) a transaction account and (ii) anitem (e.g., offer, reward, discount) and/or digital channel. Moreover,the associating may occur at any point, in response to any suitableaction, event, or period of time. The associating may occur atpre-determined intervals, periodic, randomly, once, more than once, orin response to a suitable request or action. Any of the information maybe distributed and/or accessed via a software enabled link, wherein thelink may be sent via an email, text, post, social network input and/orany other method known in the art.

The phrases consumer, customer, user, account holder, account affiliate,cardmember or the like shall include any person, entity, business,government organization, business, software, hardware, machineassociated with a transaction account, buys merchant offerings offeredby one or more merchants using the account and/or who is legallydesignated for performing transactions on the account, regardless ofwhether a physical card is associated with the account. For example, thecardmember may include a transaction account owner, a transactionaccount user, an account affiliate, a child account user, a subsidiaryaccount user, a beneficiary of an account, a custodian of an account,and/or any other person or entity affiliated or associated with atransaction account.

The customer may be identified as a customer of interest to a merchantbased on the customer's transaction history at the merchant, types oftransactions, type of transaction account, frequency of transactions,number of transactions, lack of transactions, timing of transactions,transaction history at other merchants, demographic information,personal information (e.g., gender, race, religion), social media or anyother online information, potential for transacting with the merchantand/or any other factors.

The account number may be distributed and stored in any form of plastic,electronic, magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio and/or opticaldevice capable of transmitting or downloading data from itself to asecond device. A consumer account number may be, for example, asixteen-digit account number, although each credit provider has its ownnumbering system, such as the fifteen-digit numbering system used byAmerican Express. Each company's account numbers comply with thatcompany's standardized format such that the company using afifteen-digit format will generally use three-spaced sets of numbers, asrepresented by the number “0000 000000 00000”. The first five to sevendigits are reserved for processing purposes and identify the issuingbank, account type, etc. In this example, the last (fifteenth) digit isused as a sum check for the fifteen digit number. The intermediaryeight-to-eleven digits are used to uniquely identify the consumer. Amerchant account number may be, for example, any number or alpha-numericcharacters that identify a particular merchant for purposes of accountacceptance, account reconciliation, reporting, or the like.

In various embodiments, an account number may identify a consumer. Inaddition, in various embodiments, a consumer may be identified by avariety of identifiers, including, for example, an email address, atelephone number, a cookie id, a radio frequency identifier (RFID), abiometric, and the like.

The system may include or interface with any of the foregoing accounts,devices, and/or a transponder and reader (e.g. RFID reader) in RFcommunication with the transponder (which may include a fob), orcommunications between an initiator and a target enabled by near fieldcommunications (NFC). Typical devices may include, for example, a keyring, tag, card, cell phone, wristwatch or any such form capable ofbeing presented for interrogation. Moreover, the system, computing unitor device discussed herein may include a “pervasive computing device,”which may include a traditionally non-computerized device that isembedded with a computing unit. Examples may include watches, Internetenabled kitchen appliances, restaurant tables embedded with RF readers,wallets or purses with imbedded transponders, etc. Furthermore, a deviceor financial transaction instrument may have electronic andcommunications functionality enabled, for example, by: a network ofelectronic circuitry that is printed or otherwise incorporated onto orwithin the transaction instrument (and typically referred to as a “smartcard”); a fob having a transponder and an RFID reader; and/or near fieldcommunication (NFC) technologies. For more information regarding NFC,refer to the following specifications all of which are incorporated byreference herein: ISO/IEC 18092/ECMA-340, Near Field CommunicationInterface and Protocol-1 (NFCIP-1); ISO/IEC 21481/ECMA-352, Near FieldCommunication Interface and Protocol-2 (NFCIP-2); and EMV 4.2 availableat http://www.emvco.com/default.aspx.

As used herein an “identifier” may be any suitable identifier thatuniquely identifies an item. For example, the identifier may be aglobally unique identifier (“GUID”). The GUID may be an identifiercreated and/or implemented under the universally unique identifierstandard. Moreover, the GUID may be stored as 128-bit value that can bedisplayed as 32 hexadecimal digits. The identifier may also include amajor number, and a minor number. The major number and minor number mayeach be 16 bit integers.

As used herein, big data may refer to partially or fully structured,semi-structured, or unstructured data sets including millions of rowsand hundreds of thousands of columns. A big data set may be compiled,for example, from a history of purchase transactions over time, from webregistrations, from social media, from records of charge (“ROC”), fromsummaries of charges (“SOC”), from internal data, or from other suitablesources. Big data sets may be compiled without descriptive metadata suchas column types, counts, percentiles, or other interpretive-aid datapoints.

Distributed computing cluster may be, for example, a Hadoop® clusterconfigured to process and store big data sets with some of nodescomprising a distributed storage system and some of nodes comprising adistributed processing system. In that regard, distributed computingcluster may be configured to support a Hadoop® distributed file system(HDFS) as specified by the Apache Software Foundation athttp://hadoop.apache.org/docs/. For more information on big datamanagement systems, see U.S. Ser. No. 14/944,902 titled INTEGRATED BIGDATA INTERFACE FOR MULTIPLE STORAGE TYPES and filed on Nov. 18, 2015;U.S. Ser. No. 14/944,979 titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR READING ANDWRITING TO BIG DATA STORAGE FORMATS and filed on Nov. 18, 2015; U.S.Ser. No. 14/945,032 titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING, TRACKING, ANDMAINTAINING BIG DATA USE CASES and filed on Nov. 18, 2015; U.S. Ser. No.14/944,849 titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY CAPTURING ANDRECORDING LINEAGE DATA FOR BIG DATA RECORDS and filed on Nov. 18, 2015;U.S. Ser. No. 14/944,898 titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRACKINGSENSITIVE DATA IN A BIG DATA ENVIRONMENT and filed on Nov. 18, 2015; andU.S. Ser. No. 14/944,961 titled SYSTEM AND METHOD TRANSFORMING SOURCEDATA INTO OUTPUT DATA IN BIG DATA ENVIRONMENTS and filed on Nov. 18,2015, the contents of each of which are herein incorporated by referencein their entirety.

Any communication, transmission and/or channel discussed herein mayinclude any system or method for delivering content (e.g. data,information, metadata, etc.), and/or the content itself. The content maybe presented in any form or medium, and in various embodiments, thecontent may be delivered electronically and/or capable of beingpresented electronically. For example, a channel may comprise a websiteor device (e.g., Facebook, YOUTUBE®, APPLE®TV®, PANDORA®, XBOX®, SONY®PLAYSTATION®), a uniform resource locator (“URL”), a document (e.g., aMICROSOFT® Word® document, a MICROSOFT® Excel® document, an ADOBE® .pdfdocument, etc.), an “ebook,” an “emagazine,” an application ormicroapplication (as described herein), an SMS or other type of textmessage, an email, Facebook® message, Twitter® tweet and/or message,MMS, and/or other type of communication technology. In variousembodiments, a channel may be hosted or provided by a data partner. Invarious embodiments, the distribution channel may comprise at least oneof a merchant website, a social media website, affiliate or partnerwebsites, an external vendor, a mobile device communication, socialmedia network and/or location based service. Distribution channels mayinclude at least one of a merchant website, a social media site,affiliate or partner websites, an external vendor, and a mobile devicecommunication. Examples of social media sites include FACEBOOK®,FOURSQUARE®, TWITTER®, MYSPACE®, LINKEDIN®, and the like. Examples ofaffiliate or partner websites include AMERICAN EXPRESS®, GROUPON®,LIVINGSOCIAL®, and the like. Moreover, examples of mobile devicecommunications include texting, email, and mobile applications forsmartphones.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the herein particularmachines, and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination,as would be appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further,as is unambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., WINDOWS®, OS2, UNIX®, LINUX®, SOLARIS®, MacOS, etc.) aswell as various conventional support software and drivers typicallyassociated with computers.

The present system or any part(s) or function(s) thereof may beimplemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may beimplemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems.However, the manipulations performed by embodiments were often referredto in terms, such as matching or selecting, which are commonlyassociated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No suchcapability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases,in any of the operations described herein. Rather, the operations may bemachine operations. Useful machines for performing the variousembodiments include general purpose digital computers or similardevices.

In fact, in various embodiments, the embodiments are directed toward oneor more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionalitydescribed herein. The computer system includes one or more processors,such as processor. The processor is connected to a communicationinfrastructure (e.g., a communications bus, cross over bar, or network).Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplarycomputer system. After reading this description, it will become apparentto a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement variousembodiments using other computer systems and/or architectures. Computersystem can include a display interface that forwards graphics, text, andother data from the communication infrastructure (or from a frame buffernot shown) for display on a display unit.

Computer system may also include a main memory, such as for examplerandom access memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory. Thesecondary memory may include, for example, a hard disk drive and/or aremovable storage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetictape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drivereads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit in a well-knownmanner. Removable storage unit represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape,optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storagedrive. As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit includes acomputer usable storage medium having stored therein computer softwareand/or data.

In various embodiments, secondary memory may include other similardevices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into computer system. Such devices may include, for example, aremovable storage unit and an interface. Examples of such may include aprogram cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in videogame devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) andassociated socket, and other removable storage units and interfaces,which allow software and data to be transferred from the removablestorage unit to computer system.

Computer system may also include a communications interface.Communications interface allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system and external devices. Examples of communicationsinterface may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernetcard), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and datatransferred via communications interface are in the form of signalswhich may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signalscapable of being received by communications interface. These signals areprovided to communications interface via a communications path (e.g.,channel). This channel carries signals and may be implemented usingwire, cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radiofrequency (RF) link, wireless and other communications channels.

The terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” and“computer readable medium” are used to generally refer to media such asremovable storage drive and a hard disk installed in hard disk drive.These computer program products provide software to computer system.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory and/or secondary memory. Computer programs mayalso be received via communications interface. Such computer programs,when executed, enable the computer system to perform the features asdiscussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed,enable the processor to perform the features of various embodiments.Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of thecomputer system.

In various embodiments, software may be stored in a computer programproduct and loaded into computer system using removable storage drive,hard disk drive or communications interface. The control logic(software), when executed by the processor, causes the processor toperform the functions of various embodiments as described herein. Invarious embodiments, hardware components such as application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware statemachine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

In various embodiments, the server may include application servers (e.g.WEB SPHERE, WEB LOGIC, JBOSS, EDB® Postgres Plus Advanced Server®(PPAS), etc.). In various embodiments, the server may include webservers (e.g. APACHE, IIS, GWS, SUN JAVA® SYSTEM WEB SERVER).

A web client includes any device (e.g., personal computer) whichcommunicates via any network, for example such as those discussedherein. Such browser applications comprise Internet browsing softwareinstalled within a computing unit or a system to conduct onlinetransactions and/or communications. These computing units or systems maytake the form of a computer or set of computers, although other types ofcomputing units or systems may be used, including laptops, notebooks,tablets, hand held computers, personal digital assistants, set-topboxes, workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers,mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive computers, network sets ofcomputers, personal computers, such as IPADS®, IMACS®, and MACBOOKS®,kiosks, terminals, point of sale (“POS”) devices and/or terminals,televisions, or any other device capable of receiving data over anetwork. A web-client may run MICROSOFT® INTERNET EXPLORER®, MOZILLA®FIREFOX®, GOOGLE® CHROME®, APPLE® Safari, or any other of the myriadsoftware packages available for browsing the internet.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate that a web client may or maynot be in direct contact with an application server. For example, a webclient may access the services of an application server through anotherserver and/or hardware component, which may have a direct or indirectconnection to an Internet server. For example, a web client maycommunicate with an application server via a load balancer. In variousembodiments, access is through a network or the Internet through acommercially-available web-browser software package.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web client includes anoperating system (e.g., WINDOWS® OS, OS2, UNIX® OS, LINUX® OS, SOLARIS®,MacOS, and/or the like) as well as various conventional support softwareand drivers typically associated with computers. A web client mayinclude any suitable personal computer, network computer, workstation,personal digital assistant, cellular phone, smart phone, minicomputer,mainframe or the like. A web client can be in a home or businessenvironment with access to a network. In various embodiments, access isthrough a network or the Internet through a commercially availableweb-browser software package. A web client may implement securityprotocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport LayerSecurity (“TLS”). A web client may implement several application layerprotocols including http, https, ftp, and sftp.

In various embodiments, components, modules, and/or engines of system100 may be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps. Micro-appsare typically deployed in the context of a mobile operating system,including for example, a WINDOWS® mobile operating system, an ANDROID®Operating System, APPLE® IOS®, a BLACKBERRY® operating system and thelike. The micro-app may be configured to leverage the resources of thelarger operating system and associated hardware via a set ofpredetermined rules which govern the operations of various operatingsystems and hardware resources. For example, where a micro-app desiresto communicate with a device or network other than the mobile device ormobile operating system, the micro-app may leverage the communicationprotocol of the operating system and associated device hardware underthe predetermined rules of the mobile operating system. Moreover, wherethe micro-app desires an input from a user, the micro-app may beconfigured to request a response from the operating system whichmonitors various hardware components and communicates a detected inputfrom the hardware to the micro-app.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, blockchain, or object-oriented structure and/or any otherdatabase configurations. The databases may also include a flat filestructure wherein data may be stored in a single file in the form ofrows and columns, with no structure for indexing and no structuralrelationships between records. For example, a flat file structure mayinclude a delimited text file, a CSV (comma-separated values) file,and/or any other suitable flat file structure. Common database productsthat may be used to implement the databases include DB2 by IBM® (Armonk,N.Y.), various database products available from ORACLE® Corporation(Redwood Shores, Calif.), MICROSOFT® Access® or MICROSOFT® SQL Server®by MICROSOFT® Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), MySQL by MySQL AB (Uppsala,Sweden), MongoDB®, Redis®, Apache Cassandra®, or any other suitabledatabase product. Moreover, the databases may be organized in anysuitable manner, for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Eachrecord may be a single file, a series of files, a linked series of datafields or any other data structure.

The blockchain structure may include a distributed database thatmaintains a growing list of data records. The blockchain may provideenhanced security because each block may hold individual transactionsand the results of any blockchain executables. Each block may contain atimestamp and a link to a previous block. Blocks may be linked becauseeach block may include the hash of the prior block in the blockchain.The linked blocks form a chain, with only one successor block allowed tolink to one other predecessor block.

Association of certain data may be accomplished through any desired dataassociation technique such as those known or practiced in the art. Forexample, the association may be accomplished either manually orautomatically. Automatic association techniques may include, forexample, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using akey field in the tables to speed searches, sequential searches throughall the tables and files, sorting records in the file according to aknown order to simplify lookup, and/or the like. The association stepmay be accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a“key field” in pre-selected databases or data sectors. Various databasetuning steps are contemplated to optimize database performance. Forexample, frequently used files such as indexes may be placed on separatefile systems to reduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may then be designated as a key field in aplurality of related data tables and the data tables may be linked onthe basis of the type of data in the key field. The data correspondingto the key field in each of the linked data tables is preferably thesame or of the same type. However, data tables having similar, thoughnot identical, data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP,for example. In accordance with one embodiment, any suitable datastorage technique may be utilized to store data without a standardformat. Data sets may be stored using any suitable technique, including,for example, storing individual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 filestructure; implementing a domain whereby a dedicated file is selectedthat exposes one or more elementary files containing one or more datasets; using data sets stored in individual files using a hierarchicalfiling system; data sets stored as records in a single file (includingcompression, SQL accessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric,alphabetical by first tuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); storedas ungrouped data elements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements;stored as ungrouped data elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract SyntaxNotation (ASN.1) as in ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietarytechniques that may include fractal compression methods, imagecompression methods, etc.

In various embodiments, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored in association with the system or external tobut affiliated with the system. The BLOB method may store data sets asungrouped data elements formatted as a block of binary via a fixedmemory offset using fixed storage allocation, circular queue techniques,or best practices with respect to memory management (e.g., paged memory,least recently used, etc.). By using BLOB methods, the ability to storevarious data sets that have different formats facilitates the storage ofdata, in the database or associated with system, by multiple andunrelated owners of the data sets. For example, a first data set whichmay be stored may be provided by a first party, a second data set whichmay be stored may be provided by an unrelated second party, and yet athird data set which may be stored, may be provided by an third partyunrelated to the first and second party. Each of these three exemplarydata sets may contain different information that is stored usingdifferent data storage formats and/or techniques. Further, each data setmay contain subsets of data that also may be distinct from othersubsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be stored withoutregard to a common format. However, the data set (e.g., BLOB) may beannotated in a standard manner when provided for manipulating the datain the database or system. The annotation may comprise a short header,trailer, or other appropriate indicator related to each data set that isconfigured to convey information useful in managing the various datasets. For example, the annotation may be called a “condition header”,“header”, “trailer”, or “status”, herein, and may comprise an indicationof the status of the data set or may include an identifier correlated toa specific issuer or owner of the data. In one example, the first threebytes of each data set BLOB may be configured or configurable toindicate the status of that particular data set; e.g., LOADED,INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes ofdata may be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer,user, transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each ofthese condition annotations are further discussed herein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainindividuals, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, merchant, issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, thesecurity information may restrict/permit only certain actions such asaccessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, thedata set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the userare permitted to delete a data set, various identified users may bepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

The data, including the header or trailer may be received by astandalone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, oraugment the data in accordance with the header or trailer. As such, inone embodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the transactiondevice along with the associated issuer-owned data but instead theappropriate action may be taken by providing to the user at thestandalone device, the appropriate option for the action to be taken.The system may contemplate a data storage arrangement wherein the headeror trailer, or header or trailer history, of the data is stored on thesystem, device, or transaction instrument in relation to the appropriatedata.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques nowavailable in the art or which may become available—e.g., Twofish, RSA,El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, GPG (GnuPG), and symmetricand asymmetric cryptosystems.

The computing unit of the web client may be further equipped with anInternet browser connected to the Internet or an intranet using standarddial-up, cable, DSL or any other Internet protocol known in the art.Transactions originating at a web client may pass through a firewall inorder to prevent unauthorized access from users of other networks.Further, additional firewalls may be deployed between the varyingcomponents of CMS to further enhance security.

Firewall may include any hardware and/or software suitably configured toprotect CMS components and/or enterprise computing resources from usersof other networks. Further, a firewall may be configured to limit orrestrict access to various systems and components behind the firewallfor web clients connecting through a web server. Firewall may reside invarying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy based,access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. Firewall may beintegrated within a web server or any other CMS components or mayfurther reside as a separate entity. A firewall may implement networkaddress translation (“NAT”) and/or network address port translation(“NAPT”). A firewall may accommodate various tunneling protocols tofacilitate secure communications, such as those used in virtual privatenetworking. A firewall may implement a demilitarized zone (“DMZ”) tofacilitate communications with a public network such as the Internet. Afirewall may be integrated as software within an Internet server, anyother application server components or may reside within anothercomputing device or may take the form of a standalone hardwarecomponent.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Inone embodiment, the MICROSOFT® INTERNET INFORMATION SERVICES® (IIS),MICROSOFT® Transaction Server (“MTS”), and MICROSOFT® SQL Server, areused in conjunction with the MICROSOFT® operating system, MICROSOFT® webserver software, a MICROSOFT® SQL Server database system, and aMICROSOFT® Commerce Server. Additionally, components such as Access orMICROSOFT® SQL Server, ORACLE®, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc.,may be used to provide an Active Data Object (“ADO”) compliant databasemanagement system. In one embodiment, the Apache web server is used inconjunction with a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and thePerl, PHP, Ruby, and/or Python programming languages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, JAVA® applets, JAVASCRIPT,active server pages (“ASP”), common gateway interface scripts (“CGI”),extensible markup language (“XML”), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets(“CSS”), AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT And XML), helper applications,plug-ins, and the like. A server may include a web service that receivesa request from a web server, the request including a URL and an IPaddress (123.56.789.234). The web server retrieves the appropriate webpages and sends the data or applications for the web pages to the IPaddress. Web services are applications that are capable of interactingwith other applications over a communications means, such as theinternet. Web services are typically based on standards or protocolssuch as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDL and UDDI. Web services methods are wellknown in the art, and are covered in many standard texts. For example,representational state transfer (REST), or RESTful, web services mayprovide one way of enabling interoperability between applications.

Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto facilitate communications and/or process transactions betweendisparate computing systems. Middleware components are commerciallyavailable and known in the art. Middleware may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Middlewaremay reside in a variety of configurations and may exist as a standalonesystem or may be a software component residing on the Internet server.Middleware may be configured to process transactions between the variouscomponents of an application server and any number of internal orexternal systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein. WEBSPHERE MQ™(formerly MQSeries) by IBM®, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is an example of acommercially available middleware product. An Enterprise Service Bus(“ESB”) application is another example of middleware.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that there are a number ofmethods for displaying data within a browser-based document. Data may berepresented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window,and the like. Likewise, there are a number of methods available formodifying data in a web page such as, for example, free text entry usinga keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, option boxes, and thelike.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C#, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT, JAVASCRIPTObject Notation (“JSON”), VBScript, Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL,MICROSOFT® Active Server Pages, assembly, PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Ruby,Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, PL/SQL, any UNIX shell script, andextensible markup language (XML) with the various algorithms beingimplemented with any combination of data structures, objects, processes,routines or other programming elements. Further, it should be noted thatthe system may employ any number of conventional techniques for datatransmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the like.Still further, the system could be used to detect or prevent securityissues with a client-side scripting language, such as JAVASCRIPT,VBScript or the like. Cryptography and network security methods are wellknown in the art, and are covered in many standard texts.

In various embodiments, the software elements of the system may also beimplemented using Node.js®. Node.js® may implement several modules tohandle various core functionalities. For example, a package managementmodule, such as Npm®, may be implemented as an open source library toaid in organizing the installation and management of third-partyNode.js® programs. Node.js® may also implement a process manager, suchas, for example, Parallel Multithreaded Machine (“PM2”); a resource andperformance monitoring tool, such as, for example, Node ApplicationMetrics (“appmetrics”); a library module for building user interfaces,such as, for example, ReachJS®; and/or any other suitable and/or desiredmodule.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the systemmay be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onproduct, a processing apparatus executing upgraded software, astand-alone system, a distributed system, a method, a data processingsystem, a device for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, any portion of the system or a module may take the form ofa processing apparatus executing code, an internet based embodiment, anentirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects of theinternet, software and hardware. Furthermore, the system may take theform of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-readable program code means embodied in the storagemedium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized,including hard disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storagedevices, and/or the like.

The system and method is described herein with reference to screenshots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(e.g., systems), and computer program products according to variousembodiments. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionsthat execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may alsobe stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser WINDOWS®, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc.Practitioners will appreciate that the illustrated steps describedherein may comprise in any number of configurations including the use ofWINDOWS®, webpages, web forms, popup WINDOWS®, prompts and the like. Itshould be further appreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated anddescribed may be combined into single webpages and/or WINDOWS® but havebeen expanded for the sake of simplicity. In other cases, stepsillustrated and described as single process steps may be separated intomultiple webpages and/or WINDOWS® but have been combined for simplicity.

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” and“non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” should be construed toexclude only those types of transitory computer-readable media whichwere found in In Re Nuijten to fall outside the scope of patentablesubject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments”, “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’or ‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the disclosureincludes a method, it is contemplated that it may be embodied ascomputer program instructions on a tangible computer-readable carrier,such as a magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk. Allstructural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of theabove-described various embodiments that are known to those of ordinaryskill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and areintended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is notnecessary for a device or method to address each and every problemsought to be solved by the present disclosure, for it to be encompassedby the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or methodstep in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the publicregardless of whether the element, component, or method step isexplicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is intended tobe construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112 (f) unless theelement is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.” As usedherein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variationthereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that aprocess, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elementsdoes not include only those elements but may include other elements notexpressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, orapparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: authorizing, by aprocessor, a transaction between at least one of a merchant or amerchant aggregator and a transaction account holder; transmitting, bythe processor, an authorization code to at least one of the merchant orthe merchant aggregator, wherein the authorization code comprises dataindicating that the transaction has been authorized and that a record ofcharge has been generated; receiving, by the processor, an enrichedtransaction data related to the transaction; matching, by the processor,the enriched transaction data to the record of charge; and associating,by the processor, the enriched transaction data to the record of charge.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the enriched transaction data istransmitted by at least one of the merchant, the merchant aggregator, ora third party.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the enrichedtransaction data comprises at least one of an electronic receiptinformation, a document, a tag, a note, a reminder related to thetransaction, a warranty information, a return policy, an itinerary, adeadline, a transaction location map, or a product manual.
 4. The methodof claim 1, wherein the enriched transaction data is matched to therecord of charge based on at least one of a merchant ID, a merchantname, a transaction date, a transaction amount, an authorization code,or an authorization timestamp.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising returning, by the processor, the enriched transaction data tothe transaction account holder, in response to a request for theenriched transaction data.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprisingreturning, by the processor, the enriched transaction data to thetransaction account holder, in response to a request for the enrichedtransaction data associated with the record of charge, wherein theenriched transaction data comprises an electronic receipt information.7. The method of claim 6, further comprising generating, by theprocessor, an enriched transaction data reminder based on the enrichedtransaction data, and transmitting, by the processor, the enrichedtransaction data reminder to the transaction account holder.
 8. A systemcomprising: a processor, a tangible, non-transitory memory configured tocommunicate with the processor, the tangible, non-transitory memoryhaving instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by theprocessor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:authorizing, by the processor, a transaction between at least one of amerchant or a merchant aggregator and a transaction account holder;transmitting, by the processor, an authorization code to at least one ofthe merchant or the merchant aggregator, wherein the authorization codecomprises data indicating that the transaction has been authorized andthat a record of charge has been generated; receiving, by the processor,an enriched transaction data related to the transaction; matching, bythe processor, the enriched transaction data to the record of charge;and associating, by the processor, the enriched transaction data to therecord of charge.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the enrichedtransaction data is transmitted by at least one of the merchant, themerchant aggregator, or a third party.
 10. The system of claim 8,wherein the enriched transaction data comprises at least one of anelectronic receipt information, a document, a tag, a note, a reminderrelated to the transaction, a warranty information, a return policy, anitinerary, a deadline, a transaction location map, or a product manual.11. The system of claim 8, wherein the enriched transaction data ismatched to the record of charge based on at least one of a merchant ID,a merchant name, a transaction date, a transaction amount, anauthorization code, or an authorization timestamp.
 12. The system ofclaim 8, further comprising returning, by the processor, the enrichedtransaction data to the transaction account holder, in response to arequest for the enriched transaction data.
 13. The system of claim 8,further comprising returning, by the processor, the enriched transactiondata to the transaction account holder, in response to a request for theenriched transaction data associated with the record of charge, whereinthe enriched transaction data comprises an electronic receiptinformation.
 14. The system of claim 13, further comprising generating,by the processor, an enriched transaction data reminder based on theenriched transaction data, and transmitting, by the processor, theenriched transaction data reminder to the transaction account holder.15. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangiblecomputer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereonthat, in response to execution by a computer based system, cause thecomputer based system to perform operations comprising: authorizing, bythe computer based system, a transaction between at least one of amerchant or a merchant aggregator and a transaction account holder;transmitting, by the computer based system, an authorization code to themerchant, wherein the authorization code comprises data indicating thatthe transaction has been authorized and that a record of charge has beengenerated; receiving, by the computer based system, an enrichedtransaction data related to the transaction; matching, by the computerbased system, the enriched transaction data to the record of charge; andassociating, by the computer based system, the enriched transaction datato the record of charge.
 16. The article of manufacture of claim 15,wherein the enriched transaction data is transmitted by at least one ofthe merchant, the merchant aggregator, or a third party.
 17. The articleof manufacture of claim 15, wherein the enriched transaction datacomprises at least one of an electronic receipt information, a document,a tag, a note, a reminder related to the transaction, a warrantyinformation, a return policy, an itinerary, a deadline, a transactionlocation map, or a product manual.
 18. The article of manufacture ofclaim 15, wherein the enriched transaction data is matched to the recordof charge based on at least one of a merchant ID, a merchant name, atransaction date, a transaction amount, an authorization code, or anauthorization timestamp.
 19. The article of manufacture of claim 15,further comprising returning, by the computer based system, the enrichedtransaction data to the transaction account holder, in response to arequest for the enriched transaction data.
 20. The article ofmanufacture of claim 15, further comprising generating, by the computerbased system, an enriched transaction data reminder based on theenriched transaction data, and transmitting, by the computer basedsystem, the enriched transaction data reminder to the transactionaccount holder.